Did You Hear That Boom?
by Mustaches
Summary: The aftermath of the nuke's explosion at Blackrock. One - shot, Zoethian, minor gore.


**I had a writer's block for "If I Lose Myself", but this idea has been stuck in my head since episode 17. So here, have this one - shot. I would suggest watching episode 17 before reading this because of spoilers. Although I don't know why you're reading this without watching that episode. That was a do - not - miss. But still. I'm rambling. Hi. Potato.**

**Oh, and have a playlist:**  
**"Kiss It All Better" - He is We**  
**"I Wouldn't Mind" - He is We**  
**"Our Blackrock Story Carries On" - ZoeyProasheck (Because it's beautiful.)**  
**"I Will Follow You Into The Dark" - Death Cab For Cutie**

**Disclaimer: None of the characters mine.**

* * *

"_Rythian, I miss you. Rythian, I need you right now, the nuke is about to explode. Rythian, I – "_

_I love you._

* * *

What felt like seconds ago turned into ages as Teep and I looked at Blackrock. _She knows what she's doing, _I tell myself. _She's Zoey. _But the longer she took, the more I became concerned. She was, what, ninety – seven percent sure? I hadn't believed it back then, but now it seems I'll hanging on to that truth.

The ground began to shake, and all at once, the shock of the explosion was absorbed into the ground. Teep and I were flung backwards, and I watch Teep try to desperately catch the containers that contain all of our pets and golems. We land in water, thankfully, and I watch Blackrock explode into bits.

And then, the words I never wanted to see.

**Zoeya blew up**

"Zoey!" I scream, but I know she can't hear me. "Zoey!" Teep tries to hold me back, but I fly towards where our base used to be, and I look down into the ruble. I feel my heart breaking, slowly at first, and then all at once when I fly down towards Zoey's dead body.

"No," I say, grabbing her by the arms, looking at her broken body. Blood trickles down from her forehead, smearing her war paint. Her fire hair is just chaos, and I almost let her go when I find her glasses tangled among strands of hair. I force myself to look into her orange eyes, and the thought her gaze never meeting mine again _almost _brings tears to my eyes.

_I wanted revenge. _The thought startles me, although this was always my intention. But there was the hatred I had for Lalna, that rage that I let loose. _And this is where we got… _If I didn't want revenge, if I never had even joined the old world, if I never even _met _him, would Zoey still be alive? Would she still be standing beside me, happy and joyous as always?

But if I never even met Lalna, if I never joined the old world, and if I never had wanted revenge, I would have never met Zoey. It was through those experiences that our paths merged, and has brought us to this.

"This can't be." I look at where her left arm should be, and it's gone. I find it a few feet away, still holding Fishton in those cold, unmoving fingers. Emotions so enraging and immense flood through me, and when I couldn't hold it any longer, I scream her name. That single scream drained energy out of me, and I tell shiver throughout the rage. Drops of water fall onto my face, and the rain starts coming down at a quick rate.

"Shame she went." Lalna gently lowered himself onto the ground, looking around the ruble and crinkling his nose at the sight of the arm. "Glad I wasn't here. I would've gotten some blood stains on my labcoat."

"As if you don't have any already," I snap at him. He steps foward, and, like instinct, I clutch Zoey closer, her body firmly pressed against mine now. I can feel that _other half _of me wanting to burst out of its cage, but that monster in me needs to stay where it's always been. "You put this sad excuse of destruction called science under our base."

"How adorable," he says with mock sympathy. "You've accepted the fact that she was even around you. I thought your little experiment with those Endermen would have left you with no feelings. I guess you still have those intact."

"What do you want?" I growl, taking hold of my Void Ring. "You've blown up the base. You blew up _Zoey. _What else could you possibly want to gain?"

"There's always things people want to gain," Lalna replies, looking around the landscape as if it was his own. "Sips and Sjin dreamt of making dirt, Xephos and Honeydew a Jaffa Factory, Hannah and Nilesy an owl sanctuary, the Rail Bros making rails, and I with my ambition to be the greatest scientist and giving you a hard time." There was a bit of hesitation in his voice, and when I find his eyes resting on Zoey, I know why it was there.

"You liked her, didn't you?" I barely whisper.

"A bit," he sniffs, even though his eyes beg to differ. They're a pool of desperation and sadness, and I can't put up with the idea. "She deserved better than a filthy mage like you."

"Well, if it weren't for you, she'd still be alive!" I yell, and with that I teleport away, Zoey still with me, above the mountain I had been looking at. Lalna turns around and spots me, and he begins flying upward. I use this time to take off Zoey's Ring of Ignition and using it to fire at him. He takes out his rusty sword, and I take out my katar.

"Like I've always thought it'd end, Lalna," I say, flying to the same level as him, leaving Zoey's body on the mountain. The monster tries to claw free, and slowly, very slowly, it does. With all of my strength, I swing my katar, landing blows on Lalna, seeing the red liquid ooze out. He swings at me as well, and I take little damage. For a moment I feel like I'm going to win, but when I steal a few seconds to check on Zoey, Lalna uses that to slam the katar out of my hand.

_This is my last hope. _I take out the Enderbane, and the handle stings me more than ever before. I grit my teeth and take a large swing at Duncan, and although it won't set fire to him…

"My stomach!" he screeches, falling towards toward the ground. His arms flail, electric current shooting out of his armor. "Rythian, I'll – "

**LividCoffee hit the ground too hard**

_Revenge. _The words bounced around my head as I looked down at Lalna. _I've got it. _

But it doesn't feel too good. At least not to me. Not when I could have shared this victory with Zoey. Not with the thought that I should have killed Lalna a long time ago, to prevent Zoey from getting hurt or killed. Not when I regret not telling her how I feel about her. _Because I love you, Zoey, _I try to say, flying back to Zoey's body. _I miss you now, and I need to now. _

I allow myself to cry, the first and last time.

* * *

_Did you hear that boom?_


End file.
